Public Comments Submitted by Kohl Harrington on Sep 10, 2020

From: Kohl Harrington <kohl@harringtonfilms.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 10, 2020 at 4:08 PM
Subject: OGIS point
To: OGIS <ogis@nara.gov>
Cc: Alina Semo <alina.semo@nara.gov>, <morisy@gmail.com>, <MCCLANAH@american.edu>, <kel@nationalsecuritylaw.org>, Andoh, Roger (CDC/OCOO/OD) <mhu9@cdc.gov>, Martha Murphy <martha.murphy@nara.gov>

Hello everyone, 

I just want to pass along a few points regarding today's OGIS meeting. 

Roger: Thank you for what you stated in the OGIS chat today. If agencies can fulfill records requests in accordance with law, there will most likely be less need for litigation. I always find it interesting when I am given regulations to follow by HHS, and then HHS doesn't follow those regulations themselves. When I speak to various agencies, the common response I most often get is "we're understaffed" and some staff members say they are assigned 60-70+ FOIA requests to fulfill, a lot being complex.

From the citizen and filmmaker/reporting side: 

When regulatory government agencies and regulatory employees do not follow law passed by congress, and instead try to regulate by opinion vs. properly passed rules and regulations, and when agencies then refuse to speak to citizens and instead instruct them to file FOIA requests if we want information... and citizens are then given approx dates of 18+ months for those requests to be fulfilled, it puts US citizens at a major disadvantage while the government agencies carry on doing questionable things that seem to be illegal. 

We in the requestor community do need to know what agencies need. It is hard to understand, are 20 people in a particular agency hired/assigned with fulfilling requests for the entire country? And it's then impossible to do such a thing? And how many employees are then needed to ensure a more functionable FOIA process that abides by law? 

I am willing to help as we all move forward, but we need more transparent information from OGIS regarding how agencies can more efficiently comply with the 20 day response time, and/or 10 day extension timeframe.

Kel's point: DOJ defends FOIA processors no matter what. It sends mixed messages, as if anything a FOIA processor does is legitimate. I know Ms. Semo stated it is not that clear cut. I do want to echo Mr. McClanahan's point that yes, it does feel that agency FOIA processors do quite a lot because they're not personally liable for their actions. They have the DOJ fighting for them in court. Having that power seems to put most citizens at a major disadvantage, when FOIA processors make tyrannous type decisions that don't fall inside the confines of law. I even spoke with a FOIA processor at OGIS who basically yelled at me over the phone, (raised voice level and demeaning tone) saying that if I was unhappy with OGIS taking potentially years to fulfill my FOIA request, my only option was to file a suit in federal court and things "most often go their way" if I were to file suit. It's that type of attitude from a processor, to the requestor, that is not appreciated. It is sadly common. 

Ms. Semo, to this date and after so many times asking, you've never called me back or been willing to speak to me over the phone. I have asked other OGIS employees as well. I don't understand how OGIS is "objective" when, after years, no one will even speak to me over the phone to help in a verbal manner. It's been years at this point and still, I've never received a call back for my voice mails or a response to many of my requests for a phone call so I can get better help outside of email. 

Lastly, I advocate all agencies move towards posting or making all released records available publicly. Mr. Morisey had an incredible vision for this type of transparency. I don't understand why the government would want to deal with multiple requests from people vs. just posting records publicly for all. OGIS should help ensure that this begins to be adopted by all federal agencies regarding FOIA. I understand you're not "required" by law, but it would be a great good faith effort towards the goal of a very transparent government! 

-Kohl Harrington
Harrington Films
323-237-9958